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Personal Injury Blog

Tips for Fighting Traffic Offenses

Thursday, November 05, 2015

It's a commonplace practice, many drivers across the US get traffic tickets for a variety of offenses. However, just because you get one, doesn't mean that you always did something wrong. At that point in the situation, it is your word versus the officer issuing the ticket.

Here are some tips for fighting a traffic ticket.

- Challenge the officer's conclusion (or their subjective opinion) about whether you deserve the ticket. This defense works very well when you collaborate with your lawyer to challenge what they perceived happened. Particulars include, but aren't limited to, defending against "unsafe" traffic maneuvers, and whether or not the officer was at a good vantage point to issue a ticket in the first place.

- Challenging the officer's observation consists of debating the facts that lead to the ticket. An example of this is arguing the facts behind whether you made a complete stop at a stop sign. A case like this is difficult to win, and usually goes to the police, but if you truly believe that you were in the right, you have every right to defend against the ticket as long as you have sufficient evidence.

- Arguing a "mistake of fact" requires some extra work when defending against a ticket. However, when a judge decides that there were circumstances out of your control, you may get some leniency in the outcome of your case. The main argument in this defense is whether the outcome expected from you was up for debate, like if you ran a stop sign that was newly installed and received a ticket for it.

- "Legally justified" behavior is another way to defend against an unfair ticket. For example, if you receive a ticket for driving too slow on the highway, but the reason you were doing so was because you had car troubles, you could easily say that you were legally justified to be doing so for safety concerns.

- It is also possible to defend against a ticket by proving that your actions were a result of you trying to avoid bodily harm. This sort of defense attempts to prove that your actions were a necessity and that, without them, you would have been in danger. An example is trying to prove that your speed on the highway at the time you were clocked was to avoid an out-of-control driver, and not for egregious reasons.

Defending against a traffic ticket isn't out of the question. The important factor of your defense hinges on the strategy you and your lawyer work out. Just remember, it's your legal, Constitutional right to defend and plead your case in front of a judge.